Cylinder or canister vacuum cleaners, as shown in FIG. 1, generally comprise a main body 10 which contains separating apparatus 11 such as a cyclonic separator or a bag for separating dirt and dust from an incoming dirty airflow. The dirty airflow is introduced to the main body 10 via a hose 15 and wand 16 assembly which is connected to the main body 10. The main body 10 of the cleaner is dragged along by the hose as a user moves around a room. A cleaning tool is attached to the remote end of the hose and wand assembly. A range of cleaning tools are usually supplied so that a user can choose an appropriate tool for their cleaning task, such as a crevice tool and a brush tool. For general on-the-floor cleaning the vacuum cleaner is provided with a floor tool 20.
FIG. 2 shows a known floor tool of the type manufactured and sold by Dyson Limited. The floor tool 20 comprises a lower face 150, commonly known as a sole plate, which engages with a floor surface. The sole plate 150 defines a suction channel 155 which faces the floor surface and serves, in use, to expose the floor surface to a suction force which is sufficient to carry dirt and debris from the surface. The tool 20 also comprises an outlet connector 101, 102 which fits to the wand 16 (FIG. 1) and a short connecting duct 120 for carrying airflow from the sole plate 150 to the outlet connector 101, 102. One end of the connecting duct 120 is pivotally mounted to the sole plate about axis 105 and the other end of the connecting duct is pivotally mounted to the outlet connector 101 about axis 115. The connecting duct 120 has a pair of floor engaging wheels 90 mounted on it. In use, this arrangement translates a user's pushing and pulling movement of the wand to a gliding movement of the sole plate 150 over the floor surface. However, it has been found that the manner in which some users operate the wand can cause the sole plate 150 of the tool 20 to lift off of the floor surface. This has a detrimental effect on the pick-up performance of the floor tool 20.